'56 Packard Man

A big tip of the hat to “Pappy” for this.

I neglected to put this in last week’s post about the Aero-Willys, but I now realize it deserves a post of its own. Enjoy!

Fifty Four Willys

It was my Willys Aero
in that sagging wood garage.
A reminder of a better time,
like a withered prom corsage.

Its faded skin was green and white
and covered up with dust.
It sat on flat and rotting tires,
its nose cone flecked with rust.

I bought four Mohawk recaps,
it lifted from the ground.
I added battery, points, and plugs
and the engine came around.

I had the outside painted black.
New interior, red and white.
Colored paper covered the dome light,
to enhance the mood at night.

It had two hump like tail fins
like its cousin Henry J.
And was followed by a light blue smoke
as the Casite burned away.

Poem by Dennis Price ©

Think about this:

In the early to mid 1950s, you could drive a Kaiser or Willys car or a Jeep that was built with Kaiser steel on a road in the West paved with Kaiser concrete protected with guard rails made of Kaiser aluminum. If you served in the military in World War II or Korea, you may have been on a Kaiser-built ship or used provisions and weapons and worn clothes brought to your post on a Kaiser-built ship. When you were sick, you may have gone to a Kaiser hospital and gotten your prescription filled at a Kaiser pharmacy. Little known today, Henry J. Kaiser’s industrial empire helped shape modern America.  While of the industrial side of the Kaiser empire, only Kaiser Engineers remains today, but Henry J. Kaiser’ legacy lives on in the Kaiser-Permanente system of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.

The Kaiser-Frazer – Willys – Darrin Series:

• The Orphan Kaiser-Frazer

• The End of the Frazer

• Kaiser’s Ill-fated Henry J

• The Kaiser-Darrin

• Designer Dutch Darrin

• The Willys Aero

• Henry J. Kaiser – Larger Than Life

–00OO00–

Auto Art

Hat tip to “B-Squared” for these.

1938 DeSoto

1949 Cadillac

Dual overhead camshaft drive on a Ferrari V-12

Maserati